Whats the justification nowadays for Telecom and other isp's to charge an extra $10 if you dont live in a city. Are they not worried about customers outside the centres because theres not enough of them? Dont they do all their help etc thru the phone lines or internet so theres no difference where you live? What happened to competition?

It's very simple really. A standard POTS phoneline costs less in Auckland, Wellington and Christchurch than it does everywhere else in NZ. This cost is passed on to customers if you have a phone+internet.

If you have a naked connection the wholesale naked cost is now the same right across the whole country.

These prices are regulated by the Commerce Commission. If you take issue with this pricing they're the people to contact.

sbiddle: It's very simple really. A standard POTS phoneline costs less in Auckland, Wellington and Christchurch than it does everywhere else in NZ. This cost is passed on to customers if you have a phone+internet.

If you have a naked connection the wholesale naked cost is now the same right across the whole country.

These prices are regulated by the Commerce Commission. If you take issue with this pricing they're the people to contact.

I thought it was a legacy cost, after Saturn started offering cheaper monthly phoneline rental to those people in fibre optic cable areas in Wellington, Auckland and Christchurch in the late 90's/early 2000's. These were the only areas in NZ that had a total competing network installed. So telecom also reduced peoples phone line pricing in those areas by $10 to match Saturns pricing, so they didn't lose customers. I recall this because we were about to switch to Saturn, but then telecom matched their pricing by reducing the cost by $10, so I didn't switch.

Yes mattwnz, that is what I understood as well. Possibly a case of that being forgotten and a whole new set of reasons made up to justify the extra profit. I love the rural justification, does that mean any one outside of Auckland, Wellington and Christchurch must live on a farm? Its interesting that in this age of so called competition none of the isp's seem to want to remove it.

johnr: Costs more to serve these customers just like petrol costs more in rural areas

Compare a acre of land cost rural to the city! Do you hear us city folk complaining it's a life style choice

John

Really. I would have thought that servicing a place like Tauranga which is far more compact that Auckland would be cheaper to support. You can travel from one side to the other on 30 minutes or less compared to Auckland. Wellington and Christchurch were originally cheaper with Telecom because of TelstraClear also had a competitive fone service. These days it should be one cost for all metro areas.. Rural country is a different story. It does cost way more to deploy and service..

Amazing what competition can do... Another \"old\" example, Telecom charges $42.40 for line rental in Auckland, but only $34.80 in Wellington and Christchurch where TelstraClear has coverage. (They charge $31.95.)

Really. I would have thought that servicing a place like Tauranga which is far more compact that Auckland would be cheaper to support.

Part of Telecom's obligations under the kiwishare? agreement is that - Telecom (or whoever owns the PSTN now) may only raise the price of a landline by the cost of living increase each year - The price must be the same for urban and rural customers.

This relates to the POTS telephone component of the cost, not the broadband component. Nothing to do with broadband.

When VodaTelstraClearSaturn started offering landlines in areas served by their cable network in the late 90's, they were priced cheaper than Telecom.

Telecom couldnt lower their price to match without lowering the price nationwide because of their kiwishare? obligations.

So they asked the commerce commission if they could lower the price in those specific areas where saturn/clear were operating their cable network, and the commerce commission said Yes.

Roll forward 5-10 years and we now have multiple ISP's (including telecom) wholesaling those same lines that qualified for the lower pricing in auckland, wellington and christchurch

It doesnt really cost less to serve a place like tauraunga because it is more compact, it just means less profit is made in per line in the big cities than they do anywhere else in the country.

One interesting thing you see is - VodaTelstraClear sell lines on their cable network at the lower price - VodaTelstraClear also wholesale chorus lines that qualify for the approved discounted pricing and pass on their saving to their customers in those areas, and sell at the normal rate (because it costs them more) in other areas.

The discounted pricing only applies to approved suburbs in the Auckland, wellington and chch areas that the commerce commission has signed off on, and where the competing cable network operates.

Ray TaylorTaylor Broadband (rural hawkes bay)www.ruralkiwi.com

There is no place like localhostFor my general guide to extending your wireless network Click Here